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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wind — moving air
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bore — to tire
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — farmland
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bore — to drill
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. wound — an injury
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com